Petrol prices

[mtread]

Who else remembers that VAT was meant to be a temporary, short-term measure?

Um ... I don't think so. In 1973 VAT replaced Purchase Tax which had been with us since 1940. All EU states have to have a Value Added Tax. It's a condition of being in the EU. Also the tax rates have to be 'harmonised' ie between certain amounts. Ours at 20% is actually lower than many
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/res...tes_en.pdf
Now Fuel Duty is of course an Excise Duty, and those go back centuries ! But there are always ways round them if you don't like paying ....
http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_smuggler.htm